Country, Other	Total Cases	New Cases	Total Deaths
World	154,970,169	+776,699	3,240,676
USA	33,274,659	+42,354	592,409
India	20,658,234	+382,691	226,169
Brazil	14,860,812	+69,378	411,854
France	5,680,378	+24,371	105,387
Turkey	4,929,118	+28,997	41,527
Russia	4,839,514	+7,770	111,535
UK	4,423,796	+1,946	127,543
Italy	4,059,821	+9,116	121,738
Spain	3,544,945	+4,515	78,399
Germany	3,448,182	+12,305	84,285
Argentina	3,047,417	+26,238	65,202
Colombia	2,919,805	+14,551	75,627
Poland	2,808,052	+2,296	68,133
Iran	2,575,737	+20,150	73,219
Mexico	2,349,900	+1,027	217,345
Ukraine	2,088,410	+2,472	44,916
Peru	1,818,689	+4,562	62,674
Indonesia	1,686,373	+4,369	46,137
Czechia	1,636,843	+2,219	29,456
South Africa	1,586,148	+1,187	54,511
Netherlands	1,524,527	+7,725	17,221
Canada	1,249,950	+6,693	24,396
Chile	1,219,064	+3,249	26,696
Iraq	1,086,141	+6,143	15,608
Philippines	1,067,892	+5,683	17,622
Romania	1,059,331	+994	28,474
Belgium	996,896	+1,334	24,322
Israel	838,697	+76	6,369
Portugal	837,715	+258	16,981
Pakistan	837,523	+3,377	18,310
Hungary	784,837	+726	28,045
Bangladesh	765,596	+1,914	11,705
Jordan	715,703	+1,530	8,955
Serbia	694,473	+1,304	6,456
Austria	624,595	+1,394	10,291
Japan	607,626	+4,764	10,420
Lebanon	529,205	+748	7,368
UAE	527,266	+1,699	1,598
Morocco	512,285	+373	9,038
Saudi Arabia	421,300	+999	7,006
Malaysia	420,632	+3,120	1,574
Bulgaria	406,192	+367	16,609
Ecuador	391,242	+3,196	18,863
Slovakia	383,609	+381	11,855
Panama	365,619	+320	6,248
Belarus	362,594	+697	2,582
Nepal	351,005	+7,587	3,417
Greece	349,936	+1,368	10,668
Croatia	336,918	+1,396	7,264
Kazakhstan	330,071	+2,076	3,762
Azerbaijan	322,761	+963	4,597
Tunisia	314,152	+1,405	11,016
Georgia	313,742	+788	4,183
Bolivia	308,984	+1,423	13,035
Palestine	298,921	+718	3,296
Paraguay	286,667	+2,214	6,722
Kuwait	279,085	+1,253	1,601
Dominican Republic	268,070	+389	3,504
Ethiopia	259,354	+541	3,772
Costa Rica	257,980	+1,304	3,310
Denmark	254,482	+809	2,491
Moldova	251,504	+126	5,869
Lithuania	251,450	+1,043	3,976
Ireland	250,672	+382	4,908
Slovenia	242,777	+894	4,273
Egypt	231,803	+1,090	13,591
Guatemala	230,095	+1,224	7,606
Armenia	217,407	+399	4,165
Honduras	214,475	+505	5,367
Qatar	208,232	+640	483
Uruguay	206,946	+2,826	2,861
Venezuela	201,807	+876	2,208
Oman	197,802	+902	2,062
Bahrain	181,880	+1,418	662
Libya	178,672	+337	3,049
Nigeria	165,215	+16	2,063
Kenya	160,904	+345	2,805
North Macedonia	152,814	+67	4,992
Myanmar	142,858	+16	3,209
Albania	131,327	+51	2,402
S. Korea	124,269	+541	1,840
Estonia	123,344	+401	1,177
Algeria	122,999	+282	3,289
Latvia	120,378	+425	2,159
Sri Lanka	115,590	+1,914	709
Norway	114,436	+484	757
Cuba	110,644	+1,019	686
Montenegro	97,813	+95	1,516
Kyrgyzstan	96,561	+224	1,630
Ghana	92,740	+57	780
Uzbekistan	92,320	+314	655
Zambia	91,804	+82	1,254
China	90,714	+17	4,636
Finland	87,529	+184	916
Thailand	72,788	+1,763	303
Mozambique	70,031	+31	817
El Salvador	69,727	+262	2,137
Luxembourg	67,642	+147	800
Cyprus	67,420	+509	326
Singapore	61,252	+17	31
Aruba	10,704	+25	100
Suriname	10,623	+80	212
Vietnam	2,996	+15	35

 

 

Retrieved from:  https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

 

 

 

India reports another 382,315 Covid-19 cases

From CNN’s Manveena Suri in New Delhi

 

A woman reacts as a health worker prepares to collect a nasal swab sample to test for Covid-19 at a primary health center, in Hyderabad, India, on May 3. Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images

India reported 382,315 new cases of coronavirus cases and another 3,780 Covid-19-related deaths on Wednesday, according to figures released by the Health Ministry.

The country is struggling to contain a new, massive surge in cases that first appeared in mid-April. Wednesday marked the eighth consecutive day that reported deaths per day topped 3,000 and 300,000 cases per day since April 22.

To date, India has now identified 20,665,148 Covid-19 cases -- trailing only the United States -- and at least 226,188 people have died.

The vaccine rollout has also been slow. A total of 160,494,188 vaccine doses have been administered since the country began its vaccination program on January 16, and just 3% of the population has been fully inoculated. The program was expanded to include people over the age of 18.

 

 

 

Biden will set new goal of administering at least one Covid-19 shot to 70% of US adults by July 4

From CNN's Kate Sullivan and Betsy Klein

 

President Biden will set an ambitious new goal for the nation’s vaccination efforts, announcing on Tuesday a new target to have 70% of the US adult population at least partially vaccinated by July 4, White House officials said.

Biden will be making this announcement at 2:30 p.m. ET in the White House's State Dining Room.

“The President will set a goal of having 70% of adult Americans with at least one shot by July 4, and 160 million Americans fully vaccinated by July 4,” a senior administration official briefing reporters said Tuesday.

That deadline, the official later clarified, will be for 160 million to receive one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or two doses of the mRNA vaccines, but not necessarily two weeks after their final vaccination.

As of Tuesday, the official said, more than 105 million Americans are fully vaccinated, with 147 million Americans having at least one dose of vaccine. Biden’s new goal will require nearly 100 million additional shots in arms over the next 60 days, the official added.

Biden, the official said, will “make it very clear” that achieving this goal will require all Americans to do their part. 

To reach this milestone, the administration will be increasingly focusing “on groups of people that take time to reach,” by improving access via the administration’s federal pharmacy program partners through walk-in appointments. The administration will also encourage states to offer no-appointment options. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the official said, will increase its mobile units and ramp up smaller and pop-up sites. 

There will also be efforts to strengthen vaccine confidence via education and outreach. There will be $250 million in funding for community organization outreach, plus $130 million in funding for local and national organizations working on outreach to underserved communities. 

The administration will also be “bolstering” its response in rural communities, the official said, including sending vaccines directly to rural health clinics. 

Biden will also address the expected emergency use authorization (EUA) from the US Food and Drug Administration for the Pfizer vaccine for adolescents 12 to 15 years of age. Extending the EUA to people in this age group would open Covid-19 vaccine eligibility to an additional 5% of the US population. 

 

Retrieved from: https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-vaccine-updates-05-05-21/index.html

 

 

 

New York extends its eviction moratorium through August

By Matthew Haag

 

A group of activists gathered outside City Hall to call for an extension of the moratorium on evictions and for a roll back of the city’s rents for tenants in New York on Monday.Credit...Justin Lane/EPA, via Shutterstock

 

New York State lawmakers on Monday passed legislation that would extend a statewide moratorium on residential and commercial evictions through Aug. 31.

The extension would provide additional relief for tenants, who have had broad protection from being taken to housing court since the start of the pandemic, just as New York is expected to start distributing $2.4 billion in rental assistance to struggling renters.

That financial aid will provide up to a year’s worth of unpaid rent and utilities, a financial lifesaver for not just tenants but also their landlords, many of whom have endured more than a year of little income.

Together, the moratorium extension and rental assistance comes just as New York State, along with New Jersey and Connecticut, announced plans to lift almost all their pandemic restrictions later this month, offering a chance to boost the economy a year after the region became a center of the pandemic.

The state’s eviction moratorium would extend the state’s previous protections, which expired on May 1, and goes further than the nationwide moratorium, which expires on June 30 and were imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new state eviction order went into effect later on Tuesday after Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed it into law.

Since the start of the pandemic, nearly 49,000 eviction cases have been filed in New York City Housing Court, the highest number among any American city, according to the Eviction Lab at Princeton University. While most evictions are on pause, cases can still be filed with the courts.

An analysis of court data shows that the areas in New York City hit hardest by the virus — largely Black and Latino neighborhoods in the Bronx and Queens — have had the highest number of eviction cases. On average, renters owe $8,150 in unpaid rent, the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, a coalition of housing nonprofits.

Tenants cannot be evicted if they can show a financial or health hardship because of the pandemic. Lawmakers said that without an eviction moratorium, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, if not more, could be at risk of losing their homes.

In addition to protections for renters, the new legislation in New York would also safeguard smaller landlords who have been unable to pay their mortgages, protecting them from tax lien sales or foreclosures. Commercial tenants with fewer than 50 employees can also file a hardship declaration to receive eviction protections.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/04/nyregion/new-york-city-eviction-moratorium.html

 

 

 

Under a new leader, Tanzania announces initial steps to fight the virus

By Abdi Latif Dahir

 

 President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania has taken a different approach from her virus-denying predecessor, stating that the nation could not ignore the pandemic.Credit...Associated Press

Less than two months after Tanzania’s first female president took office, the government on Monday announced new steps to tackle the pandemic, in what could be the start of a shift for the East African nation, whose former leader had denied the seriousness of the virus before he died in March. His political opponents said he had died from Covid, but his government denied it.

Beginning Tuesday, all travelers arriving in Tanzania are required to present proof of a negative coronavirus test taken in the previous 72 hours and must pay for a rapid test after they land, the health ministry said.

The new president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, who was sworn into office in March, formed a committee in her first weeks in office to advise her on the status of pandemic in the country, and the steps needed to keep people safe.

Ms. Hassan, however, has not spoken publicly about whether she supports vaccinations or whether vaccines are even available in the country. She has also drawn criticism at times for not wearing a mask, including at her own swearing-in ceremony, and for addressing large gatherings of unmasked supporters. But she has worn one during foreign trips.

Under the previous president, John Magufuli, Tanzania stopped sharing data about coronavirus cases or deaths with the World Health Organization in April 2020. Ms. Hassan’s government also has not submitted any data to the World Health Organization on new cases and deaths, and has not said if, or when, Tanzania would change course.

Ms. Hassan has stated, nevertheless, that Tanzania could not ignore the virus.

“We cannot isolate ourselves as an island,” she said in a speech last month.

The new measures announced on Monday appear to be focused on stopping coronavirus at the country’s borders. The health ministry said that foreigners arriving from countries with new Covid-19 variants would be placed in a mandatory 14-day quarantine at a government-designated facility, while returning residents would be permitted to isolate themselves in their homes.

Truck drivers crossing borders will be permitted to stop only at designated locations and could be tested for the coronavirus at random while in Tanzania.

The moves signal a departure from the blithe approach taken by Mr. Magufuli, the former president. He long opposed masks and social distancing measures, promoted unproven treatments as cures, argued that vaccines didn’t work and declared that God had helped Tanzania eradicate the virus.

Two weeks before he died, Mr. Magufuli changed course and told citizens to take precautions against the virus, including wearing masks and observing social distancing.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/05/04/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-cases/under-a-new-leader-tanzania-announces-initial-steps-to-fight-the-virus

 

 

‘We cannot wait until June’: Greece bets on reopening to tourists

By Paige McClanahan

 

Cafes and restaurants have reopened in Greece for sit-down service for the first time in nearly six months.Credit...Petros Giannakouris/Associated Press

 

Greece has reopened to many overseas visitors, including from the United States, jumping ahead of most of its European neighbors in restarting tourism, even as the country’s hospitals remain full and more than three-quarters of Greeks are still unvaccinated.

It’s a big bet, but given the importance of tourism to the Greek economy — the sector accounts for one quarter of the country’s work force and more than 20 percent of gross domestic product — the country’s leaders are eager to roll out the welcome mat.

In doing so, Greece has jumped ahead of other European countries. On Monday, the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, said it would recommend its member states to allow visitors who have been vaccinated. But it remains up to individual countries to set up their own rules.

“We welcome a common position” on restarting tourism in the European Union, Greece’s tourism minister, Harry Theoharis, said in an interview. “All we’re saying is that this has to be forthcoming now. We cannot wait until June.”

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/05/04/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-cases/we-cannot-wait-until-june-greece-bets-on-reopening-to-tourists

 

 

 

Summary

 

Here are the other key developments from the last few hours:

· Japan is considering extending the lockdown currently in place in Tokyo and other cities, according to Japanese media. The capital city is under a 17-day state of emergency until next Tuesday along with along with Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo. But prime minister Yoshihide Suga will meet ministers today to discuss an extension, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.

· The rightwing, anti-lockdown leader of Spain’s Madrid region has won a snap election dominated by the coronavirus pandemic. Isabel Díaz Ayuso has won popularity as Madrid became one of the few large European cities in Europe that has kept bars, restaurants and theatres open since the national lockdown ended in June 2020.

· The G7 will try to agree a plan to send more vaccine supplies to poorer countries as foreign ministers wrap up three days of talks in London today. Measures could include exporting surplus doses and increasing production.

· Australia’s prime minister said the country’s controversial “pause” on flights to India is working, with case numbers in its quarantine holding centre falling. Scott Morrison’s comments came as the UN said the ban raised “serious human rights” issues. The policy revents Australians returning home from India, enforced with the threat of fines and even jail time.

· Surge testing is not being carried out in England for coronavirus variants first detected in India, despite the government claiming it would be deployed, the Guardian has learned.

· Brazil’s president ignored warnings that his Covid response would lead to a disaster, a parliamentary inquiry has heard. A former health minister said Jair Bolsonaro had understood that ignoring scientific advice could cause death on an “enormous scale”.

· The birth rate in the United States has seen its biggest fall for nearly 50 years, according to government data to be published on Wednesday, with the economic uncertainty of the pandemic believed to have contributed to a fall in pregnancies.

· Hong Kong will lift its ban on flights from the UK and Ireland this week, if the local coronavirus situation and other “relevant overseas places” does not change, our correspondent in Taiwan.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/may/05/coronavirus-live-news-g7-vaccine-supply-us-india-japan-tokyo-lockdown?page=with:block-6091fe8c8f08235e51f1e9b1#block-6091fe8c8f08235e51f1e9b1